I just finished watching “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” redo the East Bernard home of the Kubena Family. I have been a fan of the show since it’s inception three years ago, and seen many families lives touched by the program.
Last year, the design team rolled into my birthplace, Kansas City, Missouri, and redid the home of a firefighter who saved the life of a fallen comrade, and then took in two orphaned brothers who were going to be sent to separate foster homes.
KMBC-TV, the local ABC affiliate, aired many live remotes on newscasts during the construction, as well as the weekend of the show’s airing on ABC. They filmed countless hours of video, and on the Sunday night of the show’s airing, showed an hour long special prior to the network program. The show was funded by all the organizations who pulled together to make this dream come true, including the smaller local companies who couldn’t afford a traditional commercial. Everyone was mentioned during the course of the program.
I had hoped for something similar with the DeAeth family of Washington, Texas (which aired 2 weeks ago), or on the Kubena family. KTRK was surprisingly absent through this project, but other local Radio Stations as well as the Chronicle mentioned it. Royce Builders and Gallery Furniture both had commercials air during the telecast tonight, certainly marking a revenue stream to the station.
So, as a way for saying thanks (and I had the opportunity to visit the site of the Kubena family) I would like to mention a couple of companies from both builds. These companies stepped up to the plate, and make the dreams of two deserving families come true.
Stylecraft Builders, Fingers Furniture, Royce Builders, and Gallery Furniture.
To support the DeAeth Family’s True Blue Animal Resuce, visit their website. (And remember as Bob Barker says, help control the pet population, have your pet Spayed or Neutered).
To donate to the Kubena’s medical fund, visit Royce Builders “Extreme” website.
UPDATE: KTRK-TV is now reporting that Brandi Ward, a cancer patient from East Bernard that was featured on the show, lost her fight with the disease. Our sympathies go out to her family.
